Ratchet wrench tool head positioner

ABSTRACT

The depending stud of a ratchet tool head is pivotally mounted between the fork arms of a tool holder attachable to a wrench handle. A plurality of spaced transverse grooves in the stud is selectively engageable with and disengageable from a transverse lock pin located adjacent the stud depending upon the angular position of the lock pin. The lock pin is removably held in selected position by a ball detent.

United States Patent 1 Avery Dec. 18, 1973 1 1 RATCHET WRENCH TOOL HEAD POSITIONER [76] inventor: Thomas L. Avery, P.O. Box 867,

Tahoe City, Calif. 95730 221 Filed: on. 19, 1972 211 App]. No.: 299,101

[52] US. Cl. .1 8l/l77.8 [S1 Int. Cl B25b 13/00 [58] Field of Search 81/5726, 58, 177 ST,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,556,995 6/1951 Coffing 287/14 Scott 81/177.9

3,383,962 Harris 81/1779 Primary Examiner-James L. Jones, Jr. Assistant Examiner-James G. Smith Attorney-Robert G. West et a1,

9 [57] ABSTRACT 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures RATCHET WRENCH TOOL HEAD POSITIONER The invention relates to improvements in devices for selectively positioning a ratchet head angularly with respect to a wrench handle attachment.

Mechanics and other persons having reason to use ratchet wrenches frequently encounter a situation where a nut to be removed or installed is either very difficult to reach, or, if accessible, is in such an awkward attitude or is obscured by intervening structure in such a way that it'is difficult to apply actuating torque.

Various approaches to a solution of the problem have been taken; for example, J. V. Harris US. Pat. No.

3,383,962 dated May 21, 1968, for Ratchet-Wrench Construction. So far as is known, however, the prior art has not taught an arrangement for selectively tilting the ratchet tool head and thereafter locking it in position by interfering structure which is not biased out of locked position by force exerted in any direction by the tool head positioner.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a tool head positioner which enables a tool head to be readily yet securely positioned in a variety of angular relations relative to a tool head holder connected thereto.

It is another object of the invention to provide an articulated tool head holder and tool head device which is relatively small, compact and economical, yet is rugged and long-lived, and has but few moving parts to get out of order.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a tool head positioner which is compatible with numerous different sizes and shapes of wrench handles, and which enables the user to reach and apply torque to nuts, and the like, which are otherwise inaccessible or awkward to reach.

It is a further object to provide a generally improved tool head positioner. i 1

Other objects, together with the foregoing, are attained in the embodiment described in the following description and showriin the accompanying drawing, in whichf FIG. I is a front perspective view;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary median longitudinal sectional view to an enlarged scale, the plane of the median section being indicated by the line 2 2 in FIG. 1;

' FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view to an enlarged scale taken on the line 3 3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view comparable to FIG. 3 but with the locking pin rotated 180 to unlocked position; and,

FIG. 5 is a view comparable to FIG. 3 but with the tool head rotated 90 relative to the axis of the tool head holder and with the locking pin in locked position.

While the tool head positioner of the invention is susceptible of numerous physical embodiments, depending on the environment and requirements of use, substantial numbers of the herein'shown and described device have been made, tested and used, and all haver performed in aneminently satisfactory manner.

The tool head positioner of the invention, generally designated by the reference numeral 12, comprises a ratchet wrench type of tool head 13 in articulated relation with a tool head holder 14 detachably connected to a suitable torque transmitting handle 16, or adapter member, as by a conventional ball detent type of connection, as shown.

The tool head 13 is provided with the customary square in section shank 17 for detachable ball detent connection to a nut engaging structure such as a socket head, not shown. Interior ratchet mechanism in the tool head 13 is controlled by a conventional exterior control member, not shown, on the back side of the tool head. The control member enables the user to lock the square shank 17 in fixed position or to adjust the mechanism and thus provide a ratchet effort in either direc' tion, in well-known fashion.

Depending from the lower end of the elongated tool head 13, as most clearly appears in FIG. 1, is a generally rectangular in section stud 19 having a front face 21jand a pair of spaced parallel side faces 22.

Straddling the side faces 22 are the arms 23 of a fork 24 on the upper end of an elongated barrel 26, or body, having a blind receptacle 28, formed on the lower end thereof to receive the corresponding male insert 29 on the end of the torque transmitting member 16. Suitable ball detent structure 30 can be used to hold the members together.

The tool head 13 is pivotally mounted on the tool head holder 14 by a transverse pivot pin 31 spanning the bifurcated yoke arms 23 and extending through the stud 19 (see FIG. 2).

In order to position the tool head 13 angularly relative to the tool head holder 14 at. any selected one of a plurality of angles, I have provided a locking structure, generally designated by the reference numeral 33, including a transverse lock pin 34 journaled in suitable aligned openings 36 in the yoke arms 23.

The segment portion of the lock pin 34 adjacent the arcuate lower end 37 of the stud 19 is removed to provide a relief space 38 with a flat surface 39.

Clearance occurs when the lock pin 34 is angularly oriented so that the flat surface 39 of the relief space 38 faces upwardly toward the adjacent arcuate lower end 37 of the stud 19. When clearance obtains, as in FIG. 4, the tool head 13 can be freely pivoted fore or aft about the pivot pin axis.

When it is desired to lock the tool head 13 in a vertically upright position, as shown most clearly in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the lock pin 34 is rotated so that the remaining, unremoved elongated segment 41 of the lock pin is swung into the middle one 42 of a plurality of elongated transverse grooves 43 formed in the lower end 37 of thestud 19. Preferably the grooves are semi-circular in section. r

As will be appreciated, additional grooves can be provided if it is desired to position the tool head at angles intermediate the three spaced-apart positions afforded by the embodiment shown herein.

With the lock pin segment 41 in either the middle groove 42 or the right hand groove 44 or the left hand groove 45, the tool head is firmly locked in the corresponding attitude.

The adjacent lips46 of any of the grooves 43 within I which the lock pin 34 is. in locking engagement, are disposed substantially on the plane of a diameter of the lock pin 34. Consequently, any force tending to tilt the locked tool head out of its locked position will urge one, or the other of the groove lips 46 against the pin substantially in the plane of said diameter, thereby neg ativing any rotational moment arm tending to rotate the pin out of locked attitude. The flat surface 39 of the relief space 38 can, if desired, substantially coincide with the plane of said diameter.

When it is desired to change the angle of the tool head, it is merely necessary to push against a lever 51 mounted on a knob 52 secured to one end of the lock pin 34 so that the pin is rotated 180 from the locked position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 to the unlocked position shown in FIG. 4. After the lock pin is placed in unlocked position, the tool head can be tilted 90 either aft or forward, as in FIG. 5, at which juncture the locking pin 34 is again rotated by the knob and lever through 180 so that the locking pin segment 41 again engages the walls of one of the grooves, here, the right hand groove 44, and effects locking of the tool head.

In order to prevent casual angular displacement of the locking pin from locked or unlocked attitude, a pair of detent pockets S6, spaced 180 apart, corresponding to the pin relief space 38 and pin locking segment 41, is formed in the inwardly facing wall of the knob 52. One or the other of the detent pockets 56 is engaged by a detent ball 58 biased by a spring 59 captive within an aperture 60 formed in the adjacent wall of the tool head holder 14.

The radially disposed lever 51 mounted on the positioning knob 52 not only affords additional moment arm when rotating the knob, but it also serves as an indicia pointing out the orientation of the locking pin 34. In the upstanding position shown, for example, in FIG. 1, the lever 51 indicates that the tool head is locked; in the depending attitude of the lever shown in broken line in FIG. 4, the tool head is unlocked and can be tilted to any other position desired.

It can therefore be seen that l have provided a tool head positioner which is not only safe and reliable in operation, but which readily and demonstrably lends itself to quick and easy changes from one angle of inclination to another.

What is claimed is:

l. A ratchet wrench tool head positioner comprising:

a. a ratchet tool head having a depending stud including a pair of parallel side walls and an arcuate lower end, said lower end having formed therein a plurality of transverse grooves;

b. a tool head holder including an elongated body having an axial receptacle at one end to receive a handle and being bifurcated at the other end to define a fork with arms straddling said side walls of said stud;

c. a pivot pin rotatably mounting said stud between said arms of said fork for relative angular movement between said tool head and said tool head holder;

(1. a lock pin rotatably mounted on said fork parallel to said pivot pin, the portion of said lock pin adjacent said lower end of said stud having a segment removed to provide clearance between said lock pin and said stud in a first angular position of said lock pin, the unremoved portion of said lock pin protruding into a selected one of said transverse grooves in a second angular position of said lock pin to lock said tool head relative to said tool head holder; and,

e. actuating means mounted on said lock pin for rotating said lock pin between said first position and said second position alternately to lock and unlock said tool head and said tool head holder in a predetermined angular relation.

2. A tool head positioner as in claim 1 in which said actuating means includes a knob mounted on one end of said lock pin adjacent one of said fork arms.

3. A tool head positioner as in claim 2 including an actuating lever mounted on said knob.

4. A tool head positioner as in claim 2 further including ball detent means engageable with said actuating means for selectively holding said lock pin in said first or said second angular position.

5. A tool head positioner as in claim 1 wherein said transverse grooves in said lower end of said tool head are substantially semi-circular in cross section and the marginal lips of each of said grooves when in engagement with said lock pin lie substantially in plane of a diameter of said pin. 

1. A ratchet wrench tool head positioner comprising: a. a ratchet tool head having a depending stud including a pair of parallel side walls and an arcuate lower end, said lower end having formed therein a plurality of transverse grooves; b. a tool head holder including an elongated body having an axial receptacle at one end to receive a handle and being bifurcated at the other end to define a fork with arms straddling said side walls of said stud; c. a pivot pin rotatably mounting said stud between said arms of said fork for relative angular movement between said tool head and said tool head holder; d. a lock pin rotatably mounted on said fork parallel to said pivot pin, the portion of said lock pin adjacent said lower end of said stud having a segment removed to provide clearance between said lock pin and said stud in a first angular position of said lock pin, the unremoved portion of said lock pin protruding into a selected one of said transverse grooves in a second angular position of said lock pin to lock said tool head relative to said tool head holder; and, e. actuating means mounted on said lock pin for rotating said lock pin between said first position and said second position alternately to lock and unlock said tool head and said tool head holder in a predetermined angular relation.
 2. A tool head positioner as in claim 1 in which said actuating means includes a knob mounted on one end of said lock pin adjacent one of said fork arms.
 3. A tool head positioner as in claim 2 including an actuating lever mounted on said knob.
 4. A tool head positioner as in claim 2 further including ball detent means engageable with said actuating means for selectively holding said lock pin in said first or said second angular position.
 5. A tool head positioner as in claim 1 wherein said transverse grooves in said lower end of said tool head are substantially semi-circular in cross section and the marginal lips of each of said grooves when in engagement with said lock pin lie substantially in plane of a diameter of said pin. 